The Ancient House of Black
by faneycane
Summary: Sirius Black's daughter, Rigel, has dealt with many things in her life, but the second Wizarding War is something new altogether. People are going missing and choices are having to be made as fears are met head on. OC/OW
1. Battle in the Sky

**First off, this in the third installment in a series. Just a note if you are new to my stories, my writing has improved greatly throughout my past two fanfics so this current one will most likely be vastly better written than my first.**

**To old readers, I am excited to start writing the last book about Rigel. I don't believe I'll be writing a prequel so this should be it. Thanks for sticking it out with me.**

Also I've been planning Deathly Hallows for a while now so I have a lot of events to fit in, therefore right off the bat, big things will begin to happen.

I hope you enjoy.

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Cold. That's all I felt. It was like someone had cut me open with a rusty knife and ripped away all my hope. And in a way, they did.

I walked slowly into the room and pulled out a chair at the wooden table before me. I sat down heavily, and with my elbows on the table, I put my head in my hands and was silent.

All that was heard in the kitchen of Grimmauld was my soft breaths and the clicking of the grandfather clock in the corner. I stayed like that for what seemed like forever, just trying to block out the truth playing in my head.

The kitchen door creaking open startled me, and I quickly grabbed my wand defensively and pointed in the direction.

Oliver raised his hands in surrender as he stayed frozen in the doorway. I let out the breath I had been holding and quickly lowered my wand.

"Sorry," I mumbled quietly, setting my wand back down on the table.

I heard his footsteps enter the room, "It's fine."

A chair scraped against the floor as it was pulled back and I looked up to see Oliver sitting down across from me.

"Where is everyone?" I questioned simply.

"At Hogwarts still." He replied.

My hands fanned out on the top of my jean covered thighs and I pressed deeply into my flesh to let loose the tension I felt.

"I just can't believe it." I muttered finally.

"I don't think anyone can." Wood told me quietly.

I couldn't stand this. The silence that seemed to be around us, threatening to engulf whatever we had left.

I shut my eyes tightly and my hands formed into fists. I kicked the table leg beside me darkly and gave a frustrated cry.

Oliver didn't even flinch as he watched me.

I abruptly stood up and kicked the leg again, my hands coming into my tangled hair and pulling at it infuriatingly.

I gave another shout of anger before I moved to the counter and put my hands on the top, leaning against it heavily. My head dipped low and I shut my eyes again as my breathing came out in hazard gasps.

"No." I muttered angrily, my one hand slamming down on the counter.

I didn't even hear Wood get up from his seat. I just felt his warm hand on my back as he came up next to me.

I felt tears prick at my eyes in the utter despair I was feeling.

Oliver's hand moved to my wrist and he pulled me firmly away from the counter.

I went into his strong arms willingly and I clung to the back of his shirt as he held me.

"This can't be happening." I cried lowly, "How are we supposed to fight without Dumbledore? Tell me Wood, what hope do we have left?!"

"We have Harry." He responded calmly.

"Harry's a sixteen year old boy!" I argued back, pulling away from him so I could look into his face.

"Who has lived through much more than any of us could dream of," Wood countered, "You have to stop thinking of him like a little kid, Rig."

My jaw clenched, "Well I'm sorry for not feeling very optimistic, it's just a little hard after Death Eaters infiltrated Hogwarts and Dumbledore got killed!"

"Don't take your anger out on me, Rigel." He responded, his body tense.

My face flushed at his words as I took into account of his meaning. I didn't even realize how much Dumbledore's death was affecting him; I was too wrapped up in my own pain. And now here I was using him as a punching bag while he was trying to reassure me.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, my arms coming around my frame as I took a step away from him, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

He didn't say anything and I just took another step away, "I should just go and head to the Ministry, no doubt it will be getting hectic over there."

After Hogwarts I started working for Kingsley in the Auror department. I didn't really do Auror work as I didn't have the training, but I was in charge of keeping files, finding information and such. Pretty much just background work.

"You should just wait until the morning," Oliver responded, "You're already running on no sleep as it is. We should just get back to the apartment."

"I can't just stand still," I told him softly, "I need to do something. Anything."

"There's nothing you can do tonight." He persuaded, "You're not thinking clearly anyway."

"Then maybe I can just wait here until everyone gets back," I tried, the useless feeling overwhelming me, "I'm sure Moody will find something for me to do…"

I trailed off as I knew that he wouldn't.

"Let's just go home, Rigel." Oliver said softly, "There's nothing more we can do tonight."

I took in a deep breath before slowly nodding, "Alright."

I left Grimmauld with a mental ache in my body. What would we do without Dumbledore?

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"Alright Potter, we've got some problems with Plan A, therefore we're going to Plan B." Mad-Eye told the messy haired boy.

I leaned against the back wall of the Dursley living room and moved the curtain back just enough so I could peak outside onto the street every few minutes. Oliver stood across from me beside Remus, his expression as concentrated as the rest of the Order Member's.

"Pius Thicknesse has gone over, and he was the only one who could make transportation out of here possible for you." Moody continued, his wild eye moving erratically in a paranoid motion as he explained, "So that leaved us with a problem in getting you out of the house. Second problem is you've still got the trace on you."

"I don't–" Harry began but was interrupted abruptly.

"The trace!" Moody exclaimed impatiently, "The charm that detects under aged magic! You sneeze and the Ministry knows who wipes your nose!"

I figured that a bit of an exaggeration but Mad-Eye was already mid rant and I wasn't in the mood for his scathing gaze to land on me if I dared to say anything. I let the curtains fall back into place and crossed my arms across my jumper clad chest.

"Therefore," The old Auror continued gruffly, "We need to transport you using something the Ministry can't trace; brooms, threstrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."

"Won't Voldemort," Harry questioned and beside me Fletcher cringed at the name, "Be watching the house to see if I move though?"

Moody narrowed his eyes in annoyance at being questioned, "If you'd let me finish boy I might be able explain the rest of the plan."

Harry sighed in aggravation and Moody ignored it, "We have one thing that's on our side so Voldemort won't know you're moving tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry that you're not moving until the thirtieth. Of course You-Know-Who will probably have patrols in the skies waiting just in case. So we have set up several different safe houses to confuse them with which one you're going to. You'll be going to Tonks' parent's house that has every protection charm you can throw on it. From there you'll use a port key to get to the Burrow."

I watched as Harry's brows furrowed together in confusion, "But if everyone's going with me, won't the Death Eaters know which house when they see the lot of us travelling there?"

Mad-Eye let out another growl, "We're not all going there, we've all been split up into groups with different safe houses. Plus they won't know which one the house is because they won't know which Harry Potter is the real one."

"The real one?"

Moody pulled out his flask from his pocket and popped the top up, "I expect you are familiar with this type of brew?"

I watched as the kid's eyes widened as he realised it was Polyjuice Potion, "No!"

A snort came from the bushy haired girl in front of me, "I told you he'd take it like this."

"I'm not going to let all these people risk their lives!" Harry exclaimed loudly, his voice filling the entire room.

"Well none of us really fancy it, mate." Fred replied earnestly, "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky scrawny gits forever?"

Harry gave Fred a heated look before swivelling back to face Moody, "You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need one of my hairs!"

George chuckled, "Well that's the plan scuppered. Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."

I elbowed him in the ribs slightly at his joking manner, as Harry was looking more and more frustrated. Of course the other twin had to finish it though.

"Yeah, sixteen of us against a bloke who's not allowed to use magic," Fred drawled, "We've got no chance."

"Funny," Said Harry though I had a feeling he didn't mean it, "Really amusing."

"Granger as discussed," Moody muttered irritated as the three continued to bicker.

While Harry was still glaring at the twins Hermione came up behind him and neatly plucked a hair from his head, causing him to growl out at her as she swiftly gave it to Mad-Eye. Harry still looked furious about it but didn't say anything as he realised he couldn't win the argument.

"Alright, fake Potters line up here," Moody barked as he shook the flask.

George was with Dad and I and we decided that it would be better for him as the youngest to be a fake Potter. Death Eaters would kill an Order member without hesitation, at least if they thought it was Harry they would just try and capture him for Voldemort. Hence a better chance at survival.

The redheaded twin moved from beside me to the front of the room and of course made a joke at Mad-Eye's expense. The Auror gave a scathing look to him.

"Just trying to defuse the tension," He said quickly and downed a sip of Polyjuice potion.

He then passed it to his twin who took a sip and then passed it to Wood. Oliver was partnered up with Lupin, and they were heading to Remus' flat to get to their port key.

"Get changed into these clothes and then get outside," Moody told the bunch as they transformed into several Harrys, "Time is of the essence!"

While the duplicates changed unbashful in the room I moved over to where Dad was standing. I brought my hand up to his arm to get his attention, "Did Moody confirm with you about the port key?"

His grey eyes, so similar to mine looked down at me and he nodded, "It's an umbrella set up in the kitchen at Grimmauld. It leaves about an hour from now." His eyes looked around the room confused then, "Is George ready? I can't tell which one he is."

I frowned and then saw two Harrys standing together by Mad-Eye complaining about the clothing option available to them. "Must be over there."

True enough one of them broke away from the group after they had finished changing and came to stand beside us, "Alright, let's get this rubbish over with."

I rolled my eyes in response and the entire group began to file outside to the brooms and Threstrals. I mounted a broom with Dad behind me and George beside me as Moody hunkered down on his own at the front of the lineup. He gave everyone a passing glance before calling out the next order, "Let's go!"

We rose into the air and all seemed quiet. As I held my wand firmly in my hand, I looked out to see city lights glowing in the distance against the dark night sky. The sereneness of the atmosphere was slightly unnerving. Nothing we ever seemed to do ever went easy, and this was far too easy for comfort. I looked to Dad who came up beside me and we shared a cautious look. Something wasn't right here.

We continued to follow at the back of the group and we travelled into a large cloud, my field of vision suddenly narrowing as the fog surrounded us.

And then it happened. It almost sounded like a bolt of lightning as red and green lights filled the air and cackles and screams were heard. Dark cloaked figures appeared out of what seemed like nowhere.

"Get the boy!" One yelled out.

"Which one is he?!" Another screeched.

A blast of green light came towards George and I and I quickly casted a shield to block it.

"Spread out!" Moody barked from somewhere in the madness.

The dark figures moved about the air erratically fast and our group began to scatter in different directions to fight off the attack.

A cackling witch came towards us and George casted a hex at her, causing her to freeze and fall off her broom.

"You two," Dad shouted towards George and me, "Stick together and head towards Grimmauld, I'll cover you from behind!"

A shot of frustration ran through me at his order to practically leave him for dead, mostly because in all the chaos, I couldn't argue with him to do otherwise.

"Rigel!" Dad yelled back again as he blocked a killing curse sent our way, "Now!"

"Rig, let's go!" George urged me and I felt his hand pulling on my arm.

I let out an angry defeated noise and complied to the fake Potter at my side. As we headed off to the side in the direction of Grimmauld I saw the real Harry with Hagrid disappearing farther ahead and away from the main fight. Small relief went through me at that before I was forced back to reality. Two hooded figures were coming towards George and I from the west and I threw a hex at the one on the right as George casted another spell to the one on the left.

My first spell was reflected by the wizard and I threw another one as I dodged one of his own. This one hit him just as his partner was jinxed off his broom and I watched as he convulsed and then slid towards the ground. I wasted valuable time watching him go though, because out of nowhere, a hex hit my hand holding my broom. A sharp cut sliced through my hand and I lost my grip and balance. I careened towards the ground for only a second before my good hand, also holding my wand, latched onto the broomstick hovering above me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw George struggling to duel with another Death Eater and I fought to climb back onto my broom. I heaved out a deep breath of air once I righted myself and quickly casted a jinx at the wizard attacking George. Once he was dealt with I hastily motioned for George to follow after me. We continued to cast more hexes and shields as we broke away from the battle, trying to lead Death Eaters after us so they wouldn't go after the real Harry. Every so often when I got the chance, I would look behind to see if Dad was still following after us, but the last time I did he was nowhere in sight.

George noticed my troubled look and gave me a questioning gaze, "What do we do?"

I looked at the witches and wizards battling brutally all around us, "We can't just leave, no matter what Sirius told us." I quickly casted a shield over us as more curses were thrown our way, "Keep fighting until you see Sirius, and stay close to me so I know where you are."

He nodded quickly in agreement and veered off to help Bill and Fleur who were a few yards away battling. Another Death Eater appeared in my vision and I began to duel with them.

Screams and shouts filled the hectic air around us and from the sounds and looks of things, the Order was becoming outnumbered.

"Disperse!" Mad-Eye's course voice boomed in the night sky and we took that as the code that Harry was well out of reach and that we needed to retreat.

I glanced around again to try and find Dad and horror sunk into my stomach as I saw him battling with Bellatrix. I moved to try and get to them but a Harry like figure came zooming towards me, "Rig! We need to get out of here!"

I knew that if we didn't start moving in the next couple of minutes we would miss the time for our port key, but I refused to just leave Dad there with his deranged cousin.

"Head to Grimmauld, I'll meet you back with Sirius shortly," I told him quickly.

"I'm not going to just leave you!" He shouted back incredulously, "You're about as trained in combat as I am!"

I opened my mouth to argue back with him but suddenly his body slammed into mine forcefully, sending us out of the way of a sharp green light that was aimed for my head moments ago.

As we regained our balance on our brooms we saw two figures quickly coming towards us and aiming to cast more spells. I shouted a jinx at one and he fell surprisingly easily, but the second one George was having difficulty with. I tried to help him out with hexes of my own but the Death Eater was well trained and continued to deflect the shots. Finally one of George's hexes hit the figure's hood and it fell back to reveal the wizard's face.

Snape.

Anger at the man overcame me and I shot a hex at the professor, finally causing him to stumble before he threw one last curse. I wasn't aware that George was in a type of shock of seeing that it was Snape and he didn't notice the curse until it was too late. It hit the side of his head just as Snape disapparated. I froze in fear as I watched the surprise grow on his face before his eyes suddenly turned glossy. I grabbed onto his arm as he slowly went limp and began to slide off his broom.

"George!" I cried out as I tried to latch onto him, but with my hand injured I couldn't get a good grip on him and his weight was beginning to pull me off my own broom as well.

"George!" I yelled again just as I thought we were both about to go over.

Then another hand grabbed onto him.

"Dad," I breathed out as I saw his concentrated face across from me.

"We've already missed our port key," He told me as he held onto George's dead weight body firmly, we need to apparate straight to the burrow."

I simply nodded in agreement and with that a crack sounded.

We landed heavily onto the hard ground and Dad and I tried to support George's weight as we stumbled to our feet. I saw the outline of the Weasley house in front of us and we staggered together to move towards it. I glanced towards George to see how he was doing and my stomach churned as I finally noticed his ear, or lack thereof. I quickly brought my hand up to his head were blood was coming out of profusely and tried to clog it. We made it to the clearing in front of the house and Remus came rushing towards us and took my place and helped the boy get into the house.

I breathed out heavily and came to a stop as I looked around my surroundings. It was then that I saw a worried looking Harry standing to my right, just staring at me with wide eyes.

My exhausted being didn't have time to say anything as Remus came back barreling out of the house towards me, with wand raised high.

My own grey eyes widened as I saw his cold brown ones narrowing down at me. I instinctly reached for my own wand but he was too quick as he came right up to me and held his wand at my neck.

"What is Tonks' secret!?" He demanded roughly.

"Are you mad?!" I questioned.

"What is it!?" He repeated forcefully.

"She's pregnant!" I answered hastily and his wand immediately came down away from me.

He let out a hazard sigh, "I'm sorry Rigel, but I had to make sure it was you. We've been betrayed tonight."

I was still too stunned to say anything in response and I continued to just gulp in air to regain my composure.

"How did you and Oliver do?" I questioned finally, and I looked around the yard for any sign of Wood.

My eyes found Remus' again and my heart dropped at the look of sympathy and guilt on his face.

"Remus, where is he?" I demanded fiercer.

"Rigel," He tried to explain, "I had no choice but to leave, he disappeared in the commotion and I was becoming too outnumbered."

My chest rose and fell rapidly at his words and my head shook slowly at him.

"Rigel, I'm sorry, I'm sure he'll show up at any moment though." He tried to reassure me but I ignored him and my blood stained hands ran through my hair agitatedly as I tried to block the worry and fear from my emotions.

"Right," I said breathlessly as I tried to get a grip on reality, "Of course. I need to check on George."

I moved past him without another word and entered the Burrow. I saw George, now without the effects of Polyjuice, lying on the couch with Molly Weasley fussing worriedly about him.

I moved past Dad who was standing off to the side as I moved towards the battered up twin. I heard him say something about checking on Harry outside before he left the room. I crouched down beside George and gave him a weak smile.

"You look pretty when you're upset," He mumbled out slowly as he focused on my being.

I gave a rueful smile, "Git, you've got a hole in your head and you're still trying to flirt with me?"

"Have sympathy on the injured?" He questioned.

"I'm not kissing you better."

"Pity." He grumbled out, but I felt small relief at his words. If he was making jokes he must have been alright. Though a Weasley twin could probably make jokes up till their dying breath.

A loud crack sounded from outside and I remained sitting on the floor by the couch as Arthur and Fred came into the house. Fred immediately made way to his twin and I got up to make room for him.

Dad and Harry came back into the house shortly after and I went towards them.

"Remus told me about Wood." Dad told me softly, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and bringing me into a side embrace, "Stop fretting, that bloke of yours knows how to fly, he'll be here in no time."

It didn't make me feel much better though. Soon more and more Order members arrived and filed into the small confines of the Burrow's living room, but there was still no sign of Oliver.

Bill and Fleur came in and Bill's look silenced the entire room, "Mad-Eye's dead."

Molly let out a soft gasp from across the room.

"What happened?" His father questioned.

"Mundungus got scared and tried to flee," Bill explained, "Moody tried to go after him and You-Know-Who casted the killing curse when Mad-Eye wasn't looking."

My being went cold. I hadn't seen that Voldemort had been in the battle, and nobody until now had mentioned it.

I fought past the lump in my throat, "Did you see Wood?"

Bill's eyes found me amongst the crowd of people, "Last time I saw him he was following after Moody and Mundungus, is he not here yet?"

I couldn't breathe at the information that Wood had been with Mad-Eye and I couldn't respond. Beside me Dad shook his head in answer to Bill and I felt his arm tighten around me.

I had this knot in my stomach that I couldn't shake and fear was filling my being. Oliver and I hadn't been doing well lately in our relationship, if you could really call it one. From the beginning it was complicated. I mean I always knew where he stood in how he felt but I always seemed to be confused about my own feelings. After the Department of Mysteries we finally seemed to give in to our feelings but I had no idea what we had going on. We never found the right footings in our relationship and it messed with the original friendship.

Then when I had to move out of my apartment and had nowhere to go, accepting Oliver's offer to live him seemed to be more out of necessity than out of love. The confusion about our arrangement and even the stress of what was happening in the war caused arguments to occur. And while we didn't argue all the time, we still had a quarrel tonight before leaving for the Dursley's; over something I can't even remember. But it always led from the same thing. One of us knew what we wanted and the other didn't want, or know how, to give it.

I knew that I loved him though, and to know that he was missing and last spotted with a man who was now dead, was terrifying.

"Rigel, breathe," Dad's voice cut into my thoughts with authority, "Someone just arrived."

I was so lost in my own little world I hadn't even heard the crack of someone apparating into the yard. I quickly detangled myself from Dad's arm and hurried toward the doorway. I was moving so quickly that when I moved around the corner towards the door, I clashed into a hard chest. Hands clumsily came up to hold my arms to steady me and I snapped my head to look up into the face of Wood.

My eyes widened and I froze as I stared into his surprised face.

"What happened to my first owl?" I questioned.

His brows furrowed and his expression went completely blank before he responded, "He got drunk and dived off the owlery tower…"

My arms suddenly flung around him as I realised it truly was Oliver, "You git! Where the bloody hell were you?!"

"You say the sweetest things, love." He commented dryly as his own arms came around me, "I got separated from Remus, and then Mad-Eye."

I pulled away and finally got a good look at him, he was dirty, covered in dust and scratches, and his hair was windswept.

"I got outnumbered," He continued as his eyes searched around the room, "and the Death Eaters, thinking I was Harry, tried to capture me." He gave a rueful smile and I looked at him in confusion, "I got hit with some sort of jinx and I couldn't control my broom, I managed to escape the Death Eaters but I crashed into some muggle sandlot. Realising there was no point in staying or trying to get to my port key, I just apparated straight here."

"I apologize, Oliver," Remus spoke earnestly, "It was not my intention to lose sight of you."

Wood nodded but shrugged all the same, "Don't worry, it was hectic, I'm as much as to blame. Now where did Moody end up?"

My eyes looked to the ground as his searched the area.

"He's gone, Wood." Tonks told him quietly, "You-Know-Who met up with him."

"Gone?" He repeated.

Bill gave a slight nod and then slowly waved his wand in the air. I watched as several shot glasses appeared out of thin air. Bill then waved his wand again and they were filled. They floated to each person in the room and I slowly took mine into my hand.

"To Mad-Eye." Bill declared as he raised his glass.

Everyone repeated the words and toasted to him. I glimpsed Harry beside me before I drank and I saw him staring blankly into his glass, guilt apparent on his face. I knew nothing I could say would change his feeling at the moment but I still felt as if I needed to say something to him. I opened my mouth but a look from Dad silenced me. His grey eyes seemed to warn me that now was not the time. I let out a breath and finally downed back my drink.

I looked at all the faces around the room and hoped these salutes wouldn't have to happen again.

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**So not a very happy intro, but have no fear, there will still be lighthearted moments to come with our dear sardonic Rigel. If you want, leave a review to say what you think of the chapter, or even ideas that you think I could use in upcoming chapters, I may not use your ideas, but I will read them and take them into consideration. :) Thanks for reading.**


	2. A Sobering Celebration

**If you haven't read the previous books here is a small outline to help you follow what's happened a bit so far. Readers who have read 'Honourable House of Black', you can probably skip this if you want. ;)**

**So Rigel is about four years older than Harry, her mother was murdered by Bellatrix and Sirius was still sent to Azkaban. Rigel only learned in her seventh year at Hogwarts that her father was innocent as she believed otherwise. She also has an aunt named Zosma who is still alive and a Death Eater and will appear later on in this fic. Sirius Black survived the Department of Mysteries as you've probably already assumed. Oliver Wood and Rigel have a thing going on but complications from previous events kind of make it awkward.**

**Phew. So that's the gist of it, two fanfictions partly summarized in one paragraph…**

**Now you can enjoy the chapter. ;)**

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I blearily blinked open my eyes and focused on the room before me. Sun was streaming in through the window and I slowly propped myself up on my elbows. Across from me, sleeping soundly on the bed, were Ginny and Hermione. The girls had gotten to share the bed while I had slept on a sleeping bag on the floor. I let out a silent yawn and rubbed my face tiredly with one hand before detangling myself from the sleeping bag. I got up quietly and left the room. I wandered out into the silent hallway at the Weasley's house and padded barefoot down a flight of stairs. I went past the twins' room and stopped.

I slowly opened the door a crack and peaked in. The two Weasleys were sprawled out on each of their beds. I looked down and saw Oliver sleeping on the floor a little ways away from them, a pillow tossed over his head. I'm assuming he was trying to block out the twins' snoring during the night. I gave a soft smile before gently closing the door again.

I made my way down into the kitchen and still saw nobody up. So I set to work on getting a kettle boiling for some coffee. As I was doing so the sound of someone clumsily coming down the stairs met my ears. I watched as Tonks entered the kitchen, her face rather green, her mousy hair tied up in a lazy ponytail, and her housecoat belt trailing pitifully behind her.

"You okay?" I questioned her as she sat heavily down at the table.

"I hate morning sickness." She mumbled, before her head drooped to rest on the table in front of her.

"I see," I said slowly, not really knowing what else to say to her.

"Remus is still sleeping like a log." She commented, her voice muffled as she didn't even raise her head to speak, "I'm jealous."

I gave small laugh as the kettle started to squeal, signaling it was ready, "Did you want some tea or something?"

I watched as she slowly shook her head, "I still taste vomit in my mouth."

"Thanks for sharing that with me." I commented dryly as I fixed a cup of coffee for myself.

I sat down across from her and she slowly lifted her head to look at me, "Just you wait, dear cousin, one day you'll have a little Wood Junior and then you'll understand what I'm going through."

I snorted in response but it was half felt. Kids weren't something I was ready to think about with Wood. Besides, I would hate myself for bringing a child into a war. It wouldn't be fair to them. For Dory and Remus I guess I could understand, they were sure to make great parents. The child would be born into war but it would be well taken care of.

I sighed as I looked at Dory's still green tinged face. I knew what vomiting was like though. With my stress levels the way they were, I probably puked about as much as she did. The war effected people in that way I suppose.

"Earth to Rig." Tonks' dry voice cut into my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?"

She let out another groan and sat heavily back against her chair, "I said, 'where did you sleep last night'?"

"Here." I answered simply as I took a sip of coffee from my mug.

She rolled her eyes, "Really now? I figured that much. I meant in what room; the place was packed last night with people."

"I slept in Ginny's room with her and Hermione." I replied, stretching my cramped muscles.

Dory observed this, "Let me guess, you took the floor?"

I nodded in response, "Didn't have much options and Molly was adamant that Oliver and I stay the night for the wedding today."

"She's going to put you to work," She said wirily, "You do realise that don't you?"

"I figured as much." I grumbled lowly.

"Perks of being pregnant," She replied, giving a cocky little smile at me, "You get out of doing manual labor."

"Keep telling yourself that, Pukie." I countered simply.

She narrowed her eyes at me but then they widened just as quickly, "Be right back,"

I watched mutely from the table as she bolted from her chair, a hand covering her mouth as she ran around the corner to find the bathroom.

'Perks' indeed.

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"Hold still already," I muttered irritated as the tall Weasley in front of me kept pulling at the tie I was trying to fix into place.

"I would if you weren't trying to bloody choke me." Fred grumbled back and I purposely pulled harder on the tie, causing him to gag for a moment.

"Whoops." I responded casually.

He narrowed his eyes down at me, "Can't you find some other bloke to take your homicidal tendencies out on?"

I shrugged dismissively, "Oliver's out helping Arthur with the tent, so you're all I've got. Now stop being such a baby."

He grumbled something undistinguishable under his breath and I simply raised an eyebrow at him as I finished with my task, "There, perfect."

"Yes, now I'll go find Hermione to heal the bruises for me." He said in return, "Then everything will be just peachy."

"There's a good lad," I smiled cheerfully to him, "Now go run along and don't get yourself dirty."

His gaze flattened at me before he left the living room muttering, "Why do you always pick on me?"

I smiled to myself at him before moving in front of the dusty mirror in front of me. I ran a hand through my brown locks and straightened out the front of my grey dress. I had a feeling this would be one of the last times I would have the chance to dress up for a while.

Satisfied with how I looked, I moved out of the living room and entered the kitchen. George was leaning against the sink with a cup of coffee in his hand, a stupid looking grin on his face.

"What are you grinning about?" I asked as I drew near to him, though a quick glance at what he was looking at answered my question.

Harry and Ginny were across from us and both their faces were a bright red. It was easy to guess that George had interrupted a lip lock situation.

I raised an eyebrow at Harry and he turned even redder while Ginny simply gave a heated glare to her older brother and then left the room.

"I-um…" Harry stuttered for a second before his gaze went flat and he also left the room realising it would be better to just say nothing at all.

"You're such a git." I told George.

He turned his head to grin down at me and it was then that I noticed he had a toothbrush sticking out what was left of his ear.

My gaze flattened at him and I slowly shook my head, "And an idiot."

"But a sexy idiot." He replied, his eyebrows wiggling obnoxiously.

I grabbed the toothbrush tiredly and took it out, "Yeah whatever 'sexy' idiot."

"Now, now Rigel," He drawled out as he took the toothbrush back out of my hand, "How would dear old Wood react, knowing you admitted to me being a sexy beast?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, "I thought it was 'sexy idiot' not 'beast'?"

"Same difference," He told me, and then stuck the toothbrush back into his head, "Love."

He swiftly moved out of my annoyed reach and went out of the kitchen. I let out a gurgled growl as I trailed after him, "Will you get that thing out of your ear!"

Before I could catch up to him Molly Weasley appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, "Oh good, Rigel, I found you!"

I stopped short as to not crash into the woman and she grabbed onto my arm and all but dragged me out the door and outside, "Hermione needs help setting up the center pieces for the table."

I was forced to forget about George as she dragged me behind the house. She finally let me go and I stumbled beside her as she pointed to her flower bed, "I want three different flowers from here in each vase. Now watch out for the gnomes as they seem to be acting a bit testy today."

"Wait- what?" I called confused after her as she suddenly bustled off in another direction.

I let out a sigh in defeat and Hermione came up to me a few seconds later, handing me a pair of gardening scissors. I looked down at the scissors and then to the flowerbed where I noticed the gnomes glaring at me menacingly from their burrows.

"Just try not to touch them." Hermione told me quietly, whispering as if to not let the little beasts hear.

I gave her an incredulous look and in response she showed me her hands that were covered in gnome bites.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"What happened to your hands?" Wood asked curiously as we danced around the dance floor of the tent.

Around us people were dancing as well and a little off to the left Bill was twirling his new wife around.

"Gnomes." I responded flatly.

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Why were the gnomes biting you?"

"They seemed quite protective of the flower garden." I mumbled back in response, still feeling the sting of the little bites.

Oliver raised my hand that he was holding onto and inspected the small cuts, "All for a bunch of flowers?"

"Molly wanted center pieces,"

"Rig, the one at our table is half full of weeds."

"Weeds…?"

"No wonder you failed your Herbology OWL." He laughed dryly and I narrowed my eyes and mixed up my footings so that I ended up stepping on his foot.

"My bad." I told him with a fake smile as he winced.

The song ended a few seconds later and a sappy love song came on instead. I instantly felt nauseated at the words and motioned with my head for Oliver to come with me to the drinks table.

I offered him a glass of some sort of French wine but he shook his head in declination. I took it for myself and took a slow sip as I watched the couples on the dance floor. I watched Fleur looking into Bill's face and smiling and I frowned. A sobering thought entering my mind.

"It seems so stupid," I commented to Oliver, "Having a big wedding in the middle of the war."

I felt Wood's eyes on me and I let out a breath, "I mean, what's the point? It's a waste of time. We could be strategizing right now and instead we're dancing."

"Maybe it's what we all need." He replied, and I looked up at him, "A reminder of what we're all fighting for."

His brown eyes moved back down to meet my grey ones and I looked away at his concentrated look.

I didn't know what he was thinking about but I knew he had some sort of double meaning behind his words. For a moment I thought we were going to get into an argument, as usually his hints of me being standoffish were a cause for them, but he didn't say anything further. His being was relaxed but abstemious and he turned away from me and silently watched the dance floor.

When the song finally ended everyone clapped and I half-heartedly joined in. Thankfully I didn't have the chance to say anything else to him and George came up and asked me to dance. I accepted and we began to do the famous Wizarding Waltz.

"Are we still in a lover's quarrel about the toothbrush incident?" He questioned with a serious type face.

"You wish." I responded as he twirled me, "what's up with you lately? It's usually Fred who's teasing me and making me blush."

The redhead raised a sly eyebrow, "I make you blush?"

My gaze narrowed, "I _will_ step on your foot."

"Dually noted." He responded quickly.

We continued our usual banter as we danced.

The twins were two years younger than I was but we had gone to school together as well as played on the same quidditch team. I had known them for years of course before Hogwarts too because when I went to live with the Tonks' after my mother was killed, I would attend many suppers with them at the Weasley's.

Although our friendship always seemed to contain banter and physical pain. If I recall correctly, only a couple years ago I had chased Fred down the hallway at Grimmauld and tackled him to the floor about something or other. That was a common occurrence for us.

As I was pondering why I was friends with the twins, the music was coming to an end. George went to twirl me one last time but couldn't as a bright patronus suddenly came barreling in through the tent to the middle of the dance floor. Everyone came to an abrupt halt as a loud voice, recognised as Kingsley, filled the air.

"_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."_

It was like the room imploded on itself. Gasps and screeches suddenly filled the air as people began to scrabble in every direction. George and I stood frozen together side by side in shock before somebody bumped into me roughly, causing me to crash into George. He steadied me and I broke out of my daze. I hurriedly turned to the twin beside me, "Find your family and get out of here."

He nodded and we merged into the hectic crowd. I struggled through the mass of people as I tried to get to my table where I assumed Oliver and Dad would be. Loud cracks of people apparating met my ears from all directions and as I looked around I began to see dark cloaks appearing all around and bright lights were filling the tent as curses were casted. I made it to my table with my wand held tightly in my hand and saw that neither men were there.

"Oliver!" I shouted over all the noise, "Sirius!"

No one responded and I struggled over what to do. I refused to just leave them behind but Mr. Weasley was shouting from somewhere for every not to fight, to just leave.

Suddenly a body slammed into mine and tackled me to the floor, a green light whizzing past where my head had been moments ago.

I fought to push the person off of me but then noticed that the person was Oliver.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I was looking for you!" I replied back defensively and he pulled me into a crouched position, "Where's Sirius?"

"He was helping Ginny get to cover as she can't apparate yet," Wood responded, "He said to meet him back at our apartment. We have leave now though, Rig."

I thought about questioning the plan but then a curse was thrown towards us and I latched onto Oliver and thought of home.

I felt the pull behind my navel and then we landed right outside our apartment door. I breathed out deeply as I looked to Oliver, the reality of what just happened dawning in both of our eyes in the after effects. A crack sounded beside me and I jumped in a paranoid state as Dad appeared.

"What happened?" I questioned hurriedly.

"Everyone seemed to be able to get out," He responded as Oliver unlocked the front door, "I'm not sure though. Harry got out, apparated somewhere with Ron and Hermione. The Weasley's went to Andromeda's so I'm assuming well all meet there tomorrow morning to do head count."

I nodded in response as we all entered the apartment.

The next morning we met at the Tonks' and everyone seemed to be accounted for except for a select few.

Three guesses as to whom?

One, Ron.

Two, Hermione.

Three, you guessed it, Harry.

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**Alright so, elijahlover, as the trio goes AWOL during a large part of the book it might be a bit difficult to add it in but I will definitely look for some spaces where I could try make it possible, but it may not be for a while. Having everything in Rigel's POV also makes it a bit harder. **

**Also I forgot to mention this, but for the last chapter of the 'Honourable House of Black', I had some reviewer comments and questions I wanted to answer.**

**So one pointed out that when Rigel was working for Rita Skeeter, she used a telephone and the Wizarding World didn't know how to use telephones. I honestly never thought of that before and I thank you for pointing out the mistake.**

**As for skipping the 'Half-Blood Prince'; I really just don't trust myself to keep the sixth book interesting for Rigel. I know that skipping a year is going to be a bit difficult to follow, especially after Wood and Rigel finally just got together, but in this story they're mostly still at the same stage in their relationship so I can work with that. I have a lot planned and am trying to fill in the time gap so I hope it turns out well. :)**

**Comments are appreciated! Thanks!**


	3. Surprises, Good and Bad

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time, but I have an interesting chapter to make up for it. Thanks for the reviews from last chapter. :)**

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"_It's your fault she's dead!" The red haired witch declared angrily as I barely dodged a hex thrown at me, "If it weren't for you she'd still be alive!"_

_A shooting pain went through my hand and I looked down to see my palm sliced deeply and blood gushing out from it._

"_Rigel!"_

_I turned my head to try and find who it was that called me but I couldn't as I seemed to be suddenly tumbling down a jagged steep hill. Someone shouted my name again as I bashed against large black rocks and then my field of view went black. _

_I opened my eyes to bright flashes of light, and I looked down to see my feet now firmly planted on the ground at Hogwarts. Screams filled the air as I looked about the courtyard. To my right I saw Harry chasing after dark clothed figures and I tried to scream out to him, however no sound escaped my lips. I tried to run out to him but my feet would not move. Someone bumped into me roughly and I turned my head to see a cloaked figure standing beside me. Only their mouth was visible from under their hood and I could feel myself go hollow at the sickening smile they gave me. The hood slowly fell back and the face of my mother greeted me hauntingly. I screamed and this time sound screeched from my lips. _

"_Rigel," She called me softly and I screamed louder as I tried and get away from her sweetly sick expression._

"_Rigel!" She said louder and grabbed onto my arm._

"Rigel!"

My eyes snapped open and my hand came up defensively, hitting something solid in the process. A grunt sounded from beside me as I frantically tried to escape from the sheets wound against my body.

"Rigel stop it!" A rough voice commanded and I felt hands try and push my shoulders back against the bed.

I froze suddenly as I realized where I was. My heart thudded inside my chest roughly and I blinked as I looked into darkness to make out Oliver's face.

His hold on me loosened as I went still and I took in deep gasps of air, trying to focus on my surroundings. I felt Wood's hand move up to brush the hair of my sweaty forehead but a sudden wave of sickness rose inside of me. I struggled to detangle myself from the sheets and Oliver before running out of the room and down the hallway to the bathroom. I pushed the door open roughly and emptied what little was in my stomach into the toilet bowl. The light flickered on as Oliver must have come in and he held my hair back as I continued to vomit. I coughed thickly when I had finished and hazily flushed the toilet. My heart had slowed down a bit but I continued to breathe in deeply. I turned to look at Oliver's concerned face and saw a small red mark outlined on the side of his temple.

"Did I hit you?" I questioned him softly, my voice coming out dry.

He shook his head in response but he was probably only doing it to make me feel better. I didn't respond to him and then ran a hand through my brown locks, "I'm going to go get a glass of water and rinse my mouth out."

I moved past him and went towards the kitchen. He followed me in as I got a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water.

"What was the dream about?"

At first I considered saying that I didn't remember it but decided I might as well tell him.

"Zosma," I said first, thinking back to the dream about my aunt, "Her cutting my hand."

Even now as I held my glass, I felt the year old scar stinging mentally on my palm.

"Then Hogwarts and the Death Eaters." I told him, then pausing slightly, "And my Mum."

I looked to him as I took a sip of the water and swished it in my mouth before the sink. His brows were furrowed and he was frowning towards me. I spit out into the sink and grabbed a tea towel to wipe my mouth on.

"You've only started having these dreams about a month ago, Rig." He told me slowly, "I can't help but feel something has changed with you."

"I'm just stressed, Oliver." I said, carefully lifting myself onto the counter and resting my head against a cupboard door, closing my eyes softly.

He seemed to see that I didn't have the energy to argue so he left it be.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower," He said after a moment of silence, "We have to be at the Tonks' is a couple hours. Did you want to stay here instead?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm fine, I'll go with you."

"Then at least go back to bed for another hour." He told me and I opened my eyes to look back to him.

"I'd rather not move." I commented, feeling quite content staying still on the countertop.

He came closer towards me, "Come on, I can carry you."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I don't need to be carried."

"You also don't need to be a bloody mule all the time," He responded.

"You don't need to be a gentlemen all the time, it's not like I'm a lady."

"You could try to act like one." He smirked lightly.

My gaze went flat. Well fine, if he's going to be like that then he can carry my body all over bloody England.

"Fine, turn around," I told him.

He did as ordered and I hopped onto his back, my arms going around his neck as his went under my knees to hold me in place. Years of Quidditch truly did work for someone's body and Oliver was still as muscular as ever. We easily moved out of the kitchen and I rested my chin on his shoulder as we walked down the hallway.

"I wonder if normal people in a relationship do this." I pondered casually, my gaze blank.

"I love you too, Rig."

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"I'm sure that's not what he meant, Dory." I said tiredly as I rubbed my temple.

"What else _could_ he have meant, Rigel?!" Tonks demanded as she paced around the kitchen, "He wants me to move back in with mum!"

"This is Remus Lupin," I told her pushing off the wall I was leaning against and walking towards her, "He wouldn't just abandon you."

"Well he is!" She said, her hair a bright red as her emotions got a hold of her, "He always was reluctant to be in a relationship with me, now that we're having a baby he's getting cold feet and walking away!"

"Now that's not fair." I interrupted her quickly.

Her chest rose and fell as she looked back towards me, her hair turned back to normal, "You're right, it's not."

Tears welled in her eyes suddenly and she sank slowly towards the ground, sitting on the floor like a lost child. I let out a soft sigh as I watched the emotional women before me and then walked to stand beside her. I look down and saw her shoulders shaking softly. I carefully sat down beside her, the two of us sitting on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. I put my arm around her shoulder and she looked to me blearily, "He's really distant."

"Maybe you're misunderstanding him," I tried softly, "You're pregnant, you're hormones are going to be out of whack aren't they?"

She shook her head and gave a small hiccup, "No. It's not that. I know it's not."

"Then what, Dory?" I questioned.

"He's guilty." She sniffed, bringing her hand up to wipe at her eyes.

"About what?" I asked, confused.

"He's scared the baby might be a werewolf."

Oh.

I didn't know Remus Lupin all that well. He had always been more like an uncle to more than anything, his marriage to my sister like figure was a bit awkward, but nevertheless, I knew him enough to know that something like this would definitely bother him. He was too nice of a person to inflict any type of harm to anyone. When he accidently broke my wrist in seventh year when he was in werewolf form, he could barely look me in the eye for over a week.

I looked back to my cousin and gave her shoulder a tight squeeze, "How 'bout I talk to him? Try and figure this thing out?"

Her head snapped back to me, "Would you?"

I gave her a smile, "Of course."

Her arms flew around me and I let out a small choke from her tight grip. I panted her back lightly. Stressed seemed to ease off her at my words, unfortunately for me, I gained it.

I stayed at Remus and Dory's house for most of the day, I had gone to Andromeda and Ted's that morning with Oliver, but all I was needed for was to jot down information from the papers to give to Lee Jordan so he could broadcast it over the radio. I didn't need to be at the Tonks' to do that so I went to Dory's as she was home alone for the day.

The sound of the door creaking open met my ears over the soft noises of the television. Dory's head rested against my shoulder as she slept peacefully beside me on the couch, a blanket wrapped around the two of us. She shifted slightly as the door closed back shut and I watched Remus walk into the living room. I gave a slight wave with my hand and he nodded in response, his gaze shifting to look at his wife. He must have sensed my staring as he quickly looked back to me, "Rigel, I need to have a word with you."

I frowned at his look. I carefully pushed the blanket off of myself and slowly nudged Dory so she was instead resting against the couch instead of me. She was always a heavy sleeper so she barely flinched. I got up from my place and followed Remus into the empty kitchen

"What's up?" I questioned him.

He looked tired as usual, though I had no idea whether it had to do with the war or his monthly occurrences.

"I didn't want to say anything to Tonks before the morning," He said, "But I knew you would want to know right away."

"You're scaring me Remus," I responded, "Is it about Harry? Has he been found yet?"

"No, it's not about Harry, Ron, or Hermione." He said quickly, "It's about Ted."

I frowned.

"Ted has been summoned to the Muggleborn registration trial." He finally told me, "Arthur informed us today."

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. We all kind of suspected it. It was just a matter of time.

"And what is he planning on doing?" I questioned.

"Going into hiding." Remus answered, his hand resting on my shoulder in a comforting way, "Rigel, your friend, Findell, she's been called too."

My eyes snapped back up to his, "Maggie?"

"There was a list of names that Arthur showed us," Remus explained, "I noticed hers and thought I should tell you."

I nodded in thanks and brought my arms about myself, "I'll talk to her tomorrow and warn her."

Maggie Findell was one of my oldest friends from Hogwarts. She wasn't a part of the Order as Oliver and I were, but she supported the cause. I suppose it's my fault for her hesitation in the Order. Ever since seventh year I had started to keep secrets from her to try and protect her, such as my father being innocent and a war starting. I thought it was a good idea at the time as she tended to make mountains out of even the tiniest molehills, but her reaction when I finally told her the truth, proved that I thought wrong.

"Rigel?"

I snapped back to attention as Remus looked at me concerned.

"Will you be alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I told him quickly, "I've just got a hundred things running through my mind."

He nodded as if he understood, "Well go home and get some rest. I told Oliver I would send you when I got back, he's at your apartment now."

I thought about talking to Remus now about Dory, but it just didn't seem like the right moment. We were both exhausted and in no mood to communicate much farther.

"Alright," I agreed, "Thanks again Remus. I'll talk to you tomorrow morning most likely."

He gave yet another brief nod and I left the kitchen, grabbing my cloak on my way to the door.

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I apparated carefully onto the front step of Grimmauld and let out a sigh as I looked at the dreary looking place. I came here every so often to just think by myself. It was empty, save for Kreacher, as Dad moved out and got his own flat as soon as he was free, and I didn't want to live there alone with a deranged elf. I unlocked the door and opened it quietly, hoping that I wouldn't wake my grandmother. I shut the door behind me and stood there for a moment frowning. Usually some sort of trap of Moody's would pop out when I came in. This time it didn't.

I kept my wand raised as I moved slowly down the hallway, my ears listening for any unusual sounds. A small creak sounded from the drawing room door a few feet in front of me. I eased quietly towards it, expecting to maybe find Kreacher, but instead a wand swiftly jutted out in front of me and pointed towards my head. My own wand came up just as fast as I froze.

"Rigel?"

I blinked, "Harry?"

I could barely make out his face in the darkness, "What did I tell you after the spider incident?"

He blinked a couple times before registering that I was quizzing him.

"That if Ron or I ever involved you with spiders or flying cars again, you'd petrify us yourself." He responded, "When did we first meet?"

"On the Quidditch Pitch," I answered with a wry smile and then pulled the kid into a hug, "You git, you've had us all worried. Where are the other two ruffians?"

"Up here," Hermione's voice replied from the staircase across from me and I looked to see a redhead standing beside her.

We gathered together in the library and I immediately started asking them questions, "What happened to you guys after the wedding?"

"We had leave," Hermione spoke, "If Harry stayed it would only make things worse. Besides, we all sort of knew that we would have to leave sooner or later."

I frowned, "Why?"

The three of them looked at each other and grimaced.

"We can't tell you that, Rigel." Harry said finally, "All we can say is that Dumbledore has left us a mission."

A mission? I looked at their serious faces slowly, "You're really not going to tell me anything?"

They all shook their heads.

Great.

"Can I at least let everyone know you're alright?" I questioned.

Harry looked as if he was thinking about it for a minute, "Just don't let anyone know where we are. You need to keep this meeting a secret."

"Don't you think this 'mission' of yours would go by a lot smoother if you had the Order behind you?" I asked them.

"I need to do this on my own." Harry replied firmly.

"And what they for," I asked dryly, looking to the other two, "Moral support?"

"We're helping because Harry needs us." Hermione injected quickly.

There was no point in arguing with them, "Fine, whatever. Just tell me if you guys have been safe."

"We've been fine, just a few mishaps." Ron answered this time.

_Mishaps_? Never mind, I don't want to know.

"Okay," I said, "And what are you guys doing here? Aren't you worried about Kreacher? He doesn't have the best track record of keeping secrets."

"Sirius told Kreacher last time to obey my commands," Harry replied, "So he should be safe enough to be around."

"I'll talk to him before I leave too then," I responded, "Just to make sure."

We continued to talk a bit, but they wouldn't tell me much so I ended up just informing them about what's been going on with the Order. It was starting to get late so I decided I should get home before Oliver came looking for me. But I wanted to get my uncle's old journal from upstairs first. After having the dream about Zosma and my Mum, I wanted to go through the book again to try and figure out the past.

I bid the trio good-bye and went up the stairs swiftly, grabbed the leather bound journal, and came back down.

"What's that?" Harry questioned as I made my way to the hallway.

"An old journal." I told him as I made my way towards the door.

I gave a short wave goodbye as I opened the door but his eyes suddenly widened.

"Rigel, wait!" He cried out, rushing towards me and all but snatching the journal from my hand.

"What the hell, Harry?" I demanded as he looked over the cover of the book.

"R.A.B." He muttered under his breath, looking at the initials written on the front, and then calling for Ron and Hermione to come down.

"Yeah, you're point?" I questioned as the other two came down the stairs.

"What's your middle name?" He questioned, his green eyes snapping towards mine.

"Auriga…" I said slowly, becoming unnerved by his odd behaviour.

The kid was odd in general but still…

Hermione was looking from me to the initials written on the book with wide eyes, "_You're_ R.A.B? Rigel Auriga Black?"

"Yes, but-" I started only to be interrupted.

"But how's that possible?" She questioned Harry hurriedly, "She only would have been a child back then! Besides, what would she know about horcruxes?"

Sounded almost like an insult.

"Well maybe-" Ron began and I rolled my eyes at the three in annoyance.

"Will you lot stuff it already?!" I demanded sharply and they quieted, "This book isn't mine, it's Regulus'. Now what is your problem with R.A.B.?"

"Sirius' brother." Hermione whispered, quickly looking to Ron and Harry.

Suddenly all three of them were scrambling for the stairs that would lead to my uncle's room.

"What in the world…" I muttered as I watched them.

"We can't explain!" Hermione called over her shoulder, "Thanks though!"

I rolled my eyes again. They were _all_ rather odd. I shook my head slowly as I left Grimmauld and apparated home. But the word 'Horcrux' kept repeating in the back of my mind.

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I told Dad and the others about me seeing Harry and the others 'somewhere'. Of course Dad was relentless in asking me all that I knew, wanting to know exactly where I had seen them, but I just told him that Harry forbade me to say anything. The days passed on though and work with the Order kept all of our minds busy. I barely had any time to myself but when I did manage a few hours of free time, I went to see Maggie.

"This whole Muggleborn registration thing is stupid," Maggie told me heatedly, "I mean, sure, my parents are muggles, but why should I have to prove I'm a real witch? I went to Hogwarts! Do they honestly think a muggle would be able to get into Hogwarts?! And besides, I've heard rumors that the trials aren't fair and that old frog face is in charge of them."

"Umbridge you mean?" I clarified, though I didn't really have to guess.

"Yes," She responded, sinking down into a chair beside me, "I just don't know what to do. I mean, if I go there's a good chance I'll be thrown in Azkaban or killed, but if I hide the same consequences apply, only this time I'll be in control."

"Where would you go?" I asked her, my brows furrowing.

She shrugged softly, "Haven't really thought that far in advance. I don't really have anywhere to go. It seems that there are not many places to hide anymore. And what about my mum? With dad still missing I couldn't just leave her."

"What date do you have to register by?" I asked softly.

"I have a week." She responded glumly.

A week wasn't long to plan.

"We'll figure something out." I told her in response, "Ted has already gone into hiding as well. I'm sure we can figure something about for you."

She simply nodded in return, a worried expression on her pretty face.

I put my hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze of assurance, "We'll figure it out."

I arrived back home late that night as after visiting with Maggie I had gone to the Weasley's to work on Order business. I could see that Wood had been waiting up for me.

I frowned at his expression as I came through the door and I gently kicked my shoes off on the mat.

"You look upset," I commented lightly as I stepped into the apartment and took a step to where he was leaning against the table.

"You told me you wouldn't be long." He stated, his brown eyes looking me over.

"I stayed late at the Weasley's," I told him in response, "I got caught up in work."

He stood up straight, "There's a war out there Rigel, you could have flooed me or sent a message, I was worried."

"I'm sorry," I told him tiredly as I moved into the kitchen.

He followed behind me as I opened the fridge and took out a container of leftover food. I hadn't thrown up in the past two days and now I was starving.

I pulled open a drawer and fished out a fork and then turned back to look at his silent form.

He had that questioning look on his face again. He always had it when he was trying to puzzle me together. I wished he would just stay out of it.

Finally I let out a sigh as I stared down at my cold food, "Are we going to argue now or can it wait until the morning?"

My grey eyes looked back to his slowly and I frowned at his expression.

"What's happening Rigel?" He questioned me, "You keep avoiding me and there's obviously something bothering you. You've been sick for weeks now and I know you're not sleeping."

I guess we were going to argue now.

"Why do you always assume that I'm hiding something?" I asked, setting the container down, my appetite slowly fading.

"Because you usually are!" He stated exasperatedly.

"And you just can't let me be?" I demanded; my own frustration mounting as he became more inquisitive.

"Not when it's affecting you the way that it is." He stated, taking a step closer.

"There's a war going on Oliver!" I declared angrily, "I'm worried, everyone is!"

"I know you Rigel." He said back, "It's not just that."

My jaw clenched, "And you know everything about me, don't you?"

His eyes turned puzzled all of a sudden and I almost felt ashamed for what I said but I was too wound up to stop myself.

I let out an angry breath and pushed past him out of the kitchen, "Just leave me alone, Wood."

He didn't follow after me as I made my way to the bedroom. I shut the door behind me and sat heavily down on the bed.

My emotions felt so conflicted. There was so much going on and I just couldn't bring myself to talk to Wood about it. It was as if I felt spiteful towards him and in a way I did resent him a bit.

He never seemed to have any secrets because he never had anything to hide. And I envied that.

I pulled off my jumper and clothes and put on my night clothing.

I crawled under the covers of the bed and just laid there thinking. I wanted to go back out and apologize but I felt too lost in my emotions to face him.

I laid there for what seemed like hours but Oliver never came into the room.

Eventually I drifted off in an exhausted sleep.

When I awoke the next morning Oliver's side of the bed remained untouched. I got up quietly and as I left the room to go to the bathroom I realised that Oliver wasn't even in the apartment. I found a small note on the table saying that he had gone to the Burrow and I noticed that the couch looked like it had been slept on. I tried to put it from my mind and entered the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and then turned to look at my reflection in the mirror. My brown hair fell down my shoulders in soft messy waves and my grey eyes had small circles below them from lack of sleep and too much stress.

I brought my hand up to my forehead and pushed the hair from my temple, revealing the scar on the corner of my face from my injury a year ago. I let go of my hair and let it fall back in place, covering up the blemish.

I knew I wasn't as pretty as used to be. Maybe if there wasn't so much going on I would look better, but I was too tired and busy to really work with my appearance. With a war going on I didn't really see the point.

I let out a sigh and grabbed the edge of the mirror, swinging it open to reveal the cabinet behind it. I reached for the container of cotton swabs and then reached my fingers inside to pull out the small object I had hidden within it.

I took it in my hand and then slowly sat down on the floor, leaning against the side wall of the tub behind me. I rested my wrists on bent knees and stared blankly at the door across from me.

There was more to my secrets than just Harry, Tonks, and the war. Those I could deal with easily after everything I've gone through in my life. There was a bigger part to my problems though that me hide from Wood. What had been making me have nightmares about my own mother.

I had been suspicious for a while and I finally decided to seek out an answer.

I looked down at the object in my hands and just stared at it, wondering how such a small object could change my life so fast.

I was too numb and confused to feel anything so I dropped the object in the waste basket beside me and let out a slow breath as I wrapped my arms across my frame.

Positive.

A single word that's meaning meant so much.

There was no other simpler way to say it.

I was pregnant.

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**I've been planning this for a while so I'm excited that it's finally happened. :)**

**Reviewer questions:**

**MuggleCreator: I'll see if I can incorporate some flashbacks, should help fill in some gaps.**

**Tiffyrose: No, don't worry, I love Oliver and Rigel together. :)**


	4. Promises and Decisions

I rubbed my aching temple tiredly as I stared down at the newspaper lying on the table in front of me. I heard Dad let out a curse from behind me with one hand placed on the back of my chair as he read the headline on the page also.

"At least they escaped." I uttered uselessly, "I mean, they're still out of sight, aren't they?"

He didn't appear to hear what I said as he let out another curse and let go of my chair, "Why on earth would he go to the Ministry of Magic?! He acts as if he has a death wish!"

I let out a sigh, "Harry's not stupid, I'm sure he had a purpose."

"Purpose?" Dad echoed disbelievingly, "What purpose would he have in going there?"

"Don't start going at me, I'm just fathoming guesses." I told him, "We all know that Dumbledore left him some sort of mission to complete."

"Is that what he told you?" He asked, his grey eyes showing frustration as he paced around Molly's kitchen.

"Let it go, Dad." I muttered.

Ever since I told him about seeing Harry, he wouldn't stop grilling me for answers about him. I knew it was just because he was worried, but I sometimes felt as if he was jealous that he didn't get the chance to see his godson and I did.

"It was a freak accident that I stumbled into him, and you can't hold that against me just because you wanted to be the one to talk to him." I continued, fixing him with a firm gaze, "He's still hidden at the moment, and that's the best information that we can get."

He a muscle twitched in his jaw as he had no choice but to accept my words. Both of our eyes held each other firmly until he muttered something under his breath about seeing Remus about something or other and then left the kitchen.

I let out a slow breath of air and then turned my attention back to the newspaper in front of me. After seven years of knowing the kid, you'd think I would have gotten used to him being in danger and putting himself into stupid situations.

"Rigel, do you have a minute?"

I looked up to see Dory standing in the doorway, a smile decorating her face.

"Of course." I responded, watching her enter the room and take the seat across from me.

Her hair had a tinge of pink to it lately, sort of like the way she use to keep it before she married Remus. She was quite happy currently as well, which probably had to do with Remus. Only a couple days ago did she come to me about Remus meeting up with Harry somewhere, and Harry giving him a hard talking to. The conversation had apparently made Remus do a one-eighty with his priorities. Tonks was now back in with Remus at their house and everything seemed to be back in order. I only wished that I had been the one to talk with Remus, as Dory had asked me to.

"I need to ask of you a rather large favor." Tonks told me, pulling a chair out from the table and sitting down.

"Define 'rather large'." I replied cautiously.

You tended to be careful about 'favors' with sisters. There were many a times when I had agreed to do something for Tonks, not knowing what the supposed favor was, and it always seemed to end in trouble for the both of us.

"Well I don't know if it's the right time to ask," She said carefully, looking down to the tablecloth and then back up again, "But who knows if I'll ever get the chance again?"

My eyebrow creased, "You're starting to concern me."

She gave a slight smile and then reached across the table and clasped her hand on top of mine.

"I've already discussed it with Remus," She started to explain, "And I really can't think of anyone better."

"Anyone better for what?" I asked quizzically.

Her smiled stretched even further if possible.

"To be the godmother." She stated finally.

I blinked a few times and just stared at her. After a few silent moments I let out a small cough, "Of your baby?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "Of course my baby, Rig, who else?"

I retracted my hand from hers slowly, my mind spinning.

"You're like a sister to me, Rig." She continued, unfazed by my response, "If anything should happen to Remus or I, I want the child to be with you. Mum and Dad are getting old, but I know that you would love and take care of the baby."

It pained me to hear her talking about anything happening to her or Remus.

"We're planning on asking Harry to be the godfather as well," She added, "Seeing as he helped Remus and I get back on our feet again. So the responsibility won't be all yours."

"What type of mother to you suppose me to be like?" I questioned her, "Surely you don't think I'd be a proper one?"

"You're anything but proper," She responded dryly, a twinkle in her pretty eyes, "but a good one I know."

I wish I had her confidence. My hand went to my own stomach; I was still worried about being a parent to my own child. To someone else's was a completely different thing entirely. And in this time of war, the chances of me actually having to were at its highest point.

"You're not saying anything." Tonks' voice interrupted my thoughts.

I snapped back to attention to look at my cousin.

"I'm just trying to process," I stuttered slightly, "This isn't something I can accept lightly."

"Are you really that concerned?" She questioned me, her smile faltering, "Because I honestly don't have any fears about this."

She could tell that her words weren't getting through to me.

"This is my child we're talking about, Rig." She told me, reaching for my hand once again, "I wouldn't drop them off into just anyone's arms. And Remus is the most sensible man I know, do you think he would either?"

"Well of course not, but-" I tried.

"There's no 'buts' about it." She interrupted firmly, her eyes focusing on mine carefully, "You don't give yourself enough credit. Now can't you just feel honoured and accept?"

I let out a small laugh at her usual manner, but I still felt uneasy inside at the thought. It was a big commitment, and I still wasn't ready for even my own baby to come.

I felt a squeeze on my hand and looked back towards her, forcing out a smile. I did feel honored that she would choose me, but then again, she didn't have all that many options either.

"Alright." I said finally, and I watched as her face erupted into a large grin and she was out of her chair and hugging me before I could even blink.

"Thank you!" She told me earnestly, her arms squeezing almost painfully around my frame, "You have no idea how much relief you are giving me. I've been sleeping fretfully about it for a while now."

I brought my own arms around her, though slowly.

She let me go after a minute and hurried back towards the door, "I've got to tell Remus!"

I gave her another smile back in return however it seemed rather forced.

What had I gotten myself into?

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"I know that Ted went into hiding like so many of the others," I said, "But they're mostly on the run, switching between different places and that. I don't know if she could handle that sort of thing. She needs somewhere where she can stay for the long run, so she doesn't have to worry about finding new places to hide."

Kingsley let out a sigh, "What's her name again?"

"Maggie Findell." I replied quickly.

He pursed his lips for a moment before replying, "There are several problems with that though."

"Like what?" I questioned.

"Well first of all; finding the place," He stated. "Unless she tries to leave the country, there's not many safe houses to be found."

"She won't leave the country." I told him, biting on the inside of my cheek, "Not while her dad is still missing."

"Well that's your first problem," He responded honestly, "The second is keeping her whereabouts a secret. You wouldn't be able to keep in contact with her at all. Even just by knowing where she is you are putting yourself in danger of being tortured for answers."

"I'm Sirius Black's daughter; I'm already in danger for just having his name." I reminded him, "But I do see your point. Whoever knows where she is, is at as much risk."

"Precisely." He answered back grimly.

I let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the wall of the hallway, "Any other problems I should be aware of?"

"Survival." He told me. "She needs to have food, clothing, and warmth."

"I'd just stock the place up before she got there." I replied.

"And what if this war last years?" Kingsley questioned me seriously, "You can't keep her stocked up for an indefinite amount of time."

My heart just kept sinking and sinking the more I talked with him. All he was saying was true and needed though.

"Well thank-you for your time, Kingsley." I said finally, "I'll just see what I can do."

"I wish you luck, Rigel." He replied softly, with a small smile.

I nodded in return and watched him walk back down the hallway to the meeting room Arthur had set up in the Burrow.

I was just hitting brick walls with all of this and Maggie's trial was only a week away.

I pushed away from the wall and walked in the opposite direction of where Kingsley had gone and walked into the living room where the Weasley twins were fiddling around with some sort of object on the coffee table.

"What are you doing?" I asked tiredly as I heard undistinguishable noises coming from the object in their hands.

"Trying to get the radio to work." George responded as he took a muggle tool, a stewdiver I believe it was called, or something like that.

"May I ask why?" I questioned, sitting down carefully on the floor beside Fred.

"It's a way of communicating to members far away." Fred told me, "Lee Jordan has another one set up at his flat near Hogsmeade, word is he's trying to get a radio into Hogwarts to communicate with the students there as well."

"Lee Jordan," I repeated wryly, of course it would be him managing it.

"It's a faster way for us to transmit information to Order members," George continued, "We've even got a sheet of code names so Death Eaters won't know who's gathering and telling the information. And of course we've got codes for the information as well."

"That is if you can get it to work." I pointed out, wincing as the machine was still making a loud static like noise.

They both snorted, "Of course we can get it to work."

"I hope you realise it still worries me when you say something together at the same time."

They shrugged carelessly and continued to work on the radio. I watched for a while, commenting occasionally on what they were doing, mainly just to annoy them. I mean, it was a type of payback for all the times they've made me want to pull my hair out at them.

"Can't you just use magic to fix the bloody thing?" I asked and smirked as Fred got his finger pinched on the gadget.

Fred sucked on his injured finger pathetically while George answered for him, "This is a very delicate piece of equipment, Rigel."

I rolled my eyes at the patronising tone he was giving me.

"-and it needs careful workmanship to fix it."

I raised an eyebrow at him as his brother began to flick one of the knobs angrily.

"Careful huh?"

His gaze flattened at me and he took the thing out of his brother's hand, "Yes, careful."

I rolled my eyes yet again and pulled my wand out from my pocket. While they were still busy focusing on the contraption I pointed my wand at the thing, "_Reparo_."

A zapping sound was heard and they both let go of the radio in shock and it clattered to the table, the sound of gears readjusting met our ears and I peeked over the twins' shoulder as I watched the knobs on the object turn onto the right station.

There was dead silence for a moment before soft music filled the air, coming from the radio.

"Careful my arse." I told them proudly and they both turned to look at me with baffled expressions.

"_Reparo_?" They echoed at the same time.

"All that it took was a _reparo_?" Fred asked me incredulously.

"You've got to be bloody joking me." George muttered.

I looked between the two of them, "You morons didn't even attempt a simple spell on it first?"

No one answered.

I let out a sigh and got up from my place on the floor, "Whatever, goodnight geniuses."

As I left the room I could hear them grumbling and then more loud static sounded as they must have touched something. I laughed softly to myself at the sound of their loud groans that followed.

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I entered the apartment that night and only a small lamp had been left on while the rest of the place was dark. I took of my cloak and shoes and then wandered slowly down the hallway, taking in a deep breath as I approached the room.

I knew I was later then I'd said I would be and Oliver was no doubt going to be upset with me again. I pushed open the slightly ajar bedroom door cautiously and I stepped in to see Oliver's frame already on the bed. I looked carefully and saw that his body was still but his breathing wasn't even. I felt a bit of guilt that he hadn't gone to sleep yet because of me but I tried to ignore it as I quietly got ready for bed.

I still hadn't told anyone of my pregnancy, least of all Wood. I had no way to know how he'd take it and I was too much of a coward to see. I guess part of myself was still in denial of it as well.

I pulled on a tank top over my head and then brought a hand to my stomach. I could sort of feel a small roundness to it, but to the naked eye it could just pass off as fat. At least I hope it did.

I collected my hair up into a messy sort of bun and then walked over to my side of the bed. I pulled back the covers and saw that Oliver's eyes were closed. I crawled into the bed bedside him, trying to keep my distance.

We still hadn't really talked since our row a few days ago and I didn't really know how we stood with each other. I closed my eyes and let out an exhausted deep breath, settling onto my pillow.

I almost jumped when I felt an arm come around my waist and pull me backwards, but I didn't. I was settled against his warm chest and his arm stayed around my frame firmly. I felt lips kiss the space between my back and neck gently before I felt his head lay down beside mine.

It was a truce in a way. A silent one.

Maybe it was hormones but I felt my insides go unsteady at his touch and I felt stress move off of me. I burrowed in closer to him, just trying to enjoy the peaceful moment between us, as it didn't happen all that often anymore.

But them his arm moved slightly up, resting on my stomach and I froze completely. The reminder of the child growing inside of me came and suddenly I felt distant from Oliver yet again.

I couldn't tell him, I just couldn't.

I felt bad enough as it was, bringing the child into a time of war, I didn't want to involve Oliver in it and make him feel guilty. My situation was different from Dory and Remus. They were in stable relationship; they were ready for a child. And they were sure to make excellent parents. I wasn't quite sure I was.

My emotions were starting to become overwhelming and I bit down the urge to throw up again. I had to get a hold of myself and figure out what to do. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to have a baby by the beginning of next year. And in the next months to come I was going to start showing, what would I do then? I couldn't have everyone knowing.

I wrapped my fingers around the arm that was holding me. I didn't want to leave Oliver, I did love him, but how could I stay? Then again where could I possibly go that he wouldn't be able to find me, because no doubt he would search for me.

It seemed like I didn't even have options.

Tears pricked at my eyes as I just stared at the wall across from me.

Nevertheless, this baby was my responsibility, and I would do what I had to do.

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**I do apologize for the long wait and then the slightly short chapter, I'll see if I can get out another chapter faster than this one took. Thank you for the brilliant reviews!**


	5. Thinking Ahead

**Quicker update. I hope you enjoy, I tried to add in more Oliver/Rigel for this chapter.**

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"Remus, hold up." I called out as I watched the sandy haired wizard head towards the door leading outside the Burrow.

He looked over his shoulder quizzically at me but halted nonetheless. I motioned for him to follow me outside the door for some privacy. Once we were out of earshot and view, I turned back to him.

"I needed to ask you something," I told him, my arms wrapping tightly around my frame as a cold fall breeze blew against us, "Do you still own a cabin out in the woods? I remember you mentioning something or other about it a while back."

He looked slightly confused by my question and in all fairness it was rather odd of me to ask it.

"Yes," He said slowly, "It's out by—"

"No!" I cut in quickly, stopping him abruptly and then flushed at his baffled expression, "Just don't tell me its exact location. It's better if I didn't know. I need a place to hide a friend of mine. She's muggleborn."

"Miss Findell?" He guessed easily, knowing her from back in his teaching days.

I nodded quickly, "Yes, so I was wondering if we could use your cabin. It's obviously well hidden from people as you went there for your cycles."

"Of course," He replied easily, always the one to help, "I don't know what condition it's in, I haven't been there in quite a long time, but you're free to use it."

I smiled gratefully to him, "Thank you Remus."

He gave a tired smile in return. From the looks of him, there must have been a full moon only a few nights ago. I was too wrapped up in my own world to notice.

"I'll apparate you there right away if you'd like, so you can apparate back by yourself later." He told me.

"Sure," I responded and he held out his arm but I paused, "Remus, you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this arrangement. I hate myself for letting you know and putting you in danger, but I didn't see any other choice. No matter what happens, you can't tell."

"I won't betray your confidence." He told me firmly and a minute later we apparated.

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"I find it hard to believe that there's nothing for us to do." I commented, staring up at the ceiling with my lips pursed in thought.

I was lying on the couch, my head resting on the side of Oliver's lap as he attempted to read _Quidditch Through the Ages _beside me.

"It's a rare chance that we get a night off to ourselves," Wood replied, "Can't you just enjoy it and relax?"

I shifted my head to look up at him, my point of view making it easy to see that he hadn't shaved in a while as short stubble covered his face.

"Are you seriously relaxing right now?" I countered, "I haven't heard you flip a page in the past half hour. Now either you're exceptionally slow at reading or not paying attention."

His head tilted down to look at me quizzically and his brown eyes were now visible to my own.

"Since when did you become so observant?" He questioned.

I shrugged and my gaze shifted back to the white ceiling above me, "I thought I was always observant."

"Keep telling yourself that, love."

One of my hands had been playing in my hair idly and now I moved it to try and jab him in the side with my finger. However I only hit firm muscle which sort of defeated my purpose. I huffed out a short sigh of annoyance.

We didn't say anything else for a couple of minutes and I looked to the quidditch book he was reading. The book was so worn and weathered from over a decade of use. I had once thought that I should buy him a new copy but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had seen him reading it for years and I myself had gotten attached to the old thing. It was like a memory in itself. I remember the first time I wanted to borrow it from him in Hogwarts. Fifth year I believe…

"_Come on Wood." I groaned in annoyance, "It's not like I'm going to hurt it."_

_The brown haired boy in front of me barely paid attention to my words and answered in monotone, "I need it Rigel, our first game of the year is in a week and I need to go over a number of things with Harry that's in it. Just go get a copy from Madam Pince in the library."_

_I narrowed my eyes at him, "I would, however I'm banned from the library for the rest of the month."_

_This slightly caught his attention as he looked up from his studying material to look at me, "Why?"_

_I huffed out a breath and crossed my arms around my chest, "Something to do with convincing Peeves that the restricted section needed a new paint job."_

_Oliver's eyes widened, "Why would you do that?"_

"_I didn't." I stated, my gaze flattening, "I just got blamed for it."_

"_And you didn't bother arguing your case?" He questioned incredulously._

"_Pince reported the incident to Snape." I doubted much more explanation was needed then that. The man hated me with a passion, why, I had no clue. It was as if his goal in life was to make mine as miserable as possible. _

_Wood rolled his eyes at this and went back to his work, "I see. And who did do it then?"_

"_Who do you think?" I muttered, hunkering down onto the bench beside him and letting my bag drop to the floor, all the while glaring at two redheaded twins sitting a little ways away._

"_Whatever," Wood told me, obviously too busy with his homework to listen to me rant, "But you're still not getting the book."_

"_Why are you being so dismissive?" I questioned him, picking his quill right out of his hand so he couldn't continue, "Just tell Potter to go to the library, everyone loves him anyways. If you'd care to remember, I'm also on your precious team and need to brush up on some stuff too!"_

_He looked at me as if trying to decide whether to argue with me or just push me off the bench._

"_Practice with Angelina." Was his only response before he tried to snatch his quill back._

_Only with my Chaser instincts, I didn't let go of the thing. Of course he was stronger than I and the force of his pull caused me to lurch forward into him suddenly. My head bumped roughly into his chin and he let out a curse while I tried to steady my falling self. I tried to grab onto him but it only resulted in us both tumbling onto the cold hard ground. I let out a strangled cry as we landed, a collection of ink, quills, and Wood's homework landing on top of us._

_When everything finally came to a standstill, I carefully blinked open one eye to see the damage. I had landed on top of Wood somehow and guessing from his expression, I must have had elbowed him in the solar plexus on the way down. I smirked at this before my eyes took in the fact that a pair of scuffed up black shoes were standing right next to a big puddle of spilt ink next to me. I looked up slowly and mentally kicked myself as I stared up into the hard expression of Professor Snape._

"_Detention Black," He drawled out, narrowing his eyes at me before adding to Oliver, "You as well Mr. Wood. I believe two hours of scrubbing these floors without the luxury of your wands will give you more appreciation for a clean school, and you will henceforth not go spilling around inkwells at your own will."_

_My gaze flattened as Wood let out another groan and Snape walked away in a swish of billowing black robes._

"_You can forget about that book." Oliver grumbled from underneath me before shoving me off._

_Great. _

I frowned at the memory. That was only about six years ago. It seemed like decades.

I wondered what it would be like to go back to those days; my only worries were playing quidditch and avoiding detention.

Now my main goal was just staying alive.

I blew out air slowly; I didn't have to worry about parenthood back then either. I hadn't even started to think about that kind of thing in Hogwarts.

I looked back to Oliver, who still hadn't turned a page yet. I wondered what he was thinking about. His gaze was just staring blankly at the pages in front of him but his eyes remained focused on one spot. He never really spoke of his feelings much; he kept things in unless he had no choice but to let them out. I suppose we had at least that in common. The only difference was that he didn't keep secrets from me very often while I could probably fill a book with the things I kept hidden.

"I know you're completely infatuated with me," He suddenly drawled out, "But your constant staring is becoming unnerving."

His tone was joking but I didn't laugh. Instead I felt like crying instead. I _was_ infatuated with him, and that only made things worse. I wanted to blurt out everything I was withholding from him, to tell him about the baby, but I couldn't.

"Rig?"

I ignored his questioning tone and pulled myself up, a stinging in my eyes as I got up off the couch. Guilt seemed to be consuming me and his concerned voice only made it hurt even more. I was a horrible person. I had to be.

"Rigel?"

I mumbled something under my breath about wanting to take a shower and moved out of the living room and down the hallway. I entered the bathroom my breathing ragged as I tried to get a hold of my emotions. Because of these damn hormones I couldn't even think straight.

I just wanted to crawl out of my own skin and cry. I turned on the shower to the hottest I could get it and climbed in, not caring that I was still in my clothes. I let out a short gasp as the scolding water hit me and clenched my teeth. The pain caused the tears to finally come down my face and I sunk down to the floor of the tub, my knees coming to my chest and my arms wrapped around them tightly. I stayed in that position for what seemed like hours; letting the water wash away the tears covering my face. There wasn't really a purpose to my antics, but it stopped me from feeling.

The water began to get cooler and cooler until there wasn't any hot water left. I continued to sit there. My tears had stopped and now I just watched the water run down the drain. My muggle t-shirt and sweatpants clung to me heavily but I was past the point of caring.

A knock sounded on the door but I wasn't fazed.

It sounded again, "Rigel? You've been in there for over an hour, what's wrong?"

I vaguely remembered that I locked the door and felt reassured by that.

"Rig, either you respond or I'll come in and pull you out."

Would he?

Of course he would. This was Oliver Wood, he didn't give up easily.

I heard the door handle being jiggled but ignored it. There was silence for a few minutes before I heard a small 'click' sound.

"Oliver," I muttered thickly as I heard the door open, "I'm fine, I just want to be alone."

"Now you answer," I heard him say tiredly and the curtains were slowly pulled back.

I cringed on the inside of him seeing me like that; I was hoping to avoid him seeing my own personal pity party. I blinked up at him through the streaming water coming down on me.

"Rigel," His Scottish accent was thick as his eyes fell on me, "What in the world are you doing?"

"I don't really know." I mumbled back, wishing I could be swallowed up by the drain.

"Come on," He said and I felt two hands hook under my arms, however they vanished just as quickly as they appeared, "Bloody hell, this water is freezing!"

The water was quickly shut off and then his hands were back on me, lifting me from my place. He helped me stumble out of the bath tub and I kept my gaze away from him. I pushed the wet hair off my face and felt a towel being pulled around me. I quickly took it from him; I didn't need to be coddled like a child.

"Care to explain what that was all about?" He questioned me as he took his wand out of his back pocket and casted a drying charm over me. Both my hair and clothes heated up and went dry instantly, "I swear, I honestly wonder what runs through that mind of yours. One minute you're fine and then the next like this."

I didn't respond and he just let out a tired breath as I moved past him and out of the bathroom. I moved across the hallway and into the bedroom, crawling onto the bed and holing myself up in between the covers. I curled up into a ball, exhaustion filling my being.

I heard footsteps enter the room and the lamp beside the bed was turned on. I felt Wood come onto the bed and his hand came and pushed my now dry hair from my face so he could see me.

"What's going on with you?" He questioned, though I knew he wasn't really expecting a response.

"I don't know." I replied honestly, shifting my eyes to look up at his face, "I'm just trying to deal with some stuff."

He had the usual incisive look on his face when he was trying to puzzle me together.

"I won't ask if you're not ready to answer." He said finally, his being looking tired and beaten. I wondered if the war wouldn't make us all feel ten years older than we were.

I could only nod in response. He went to move away but I grabbed onto his arm to stop him, "Oliver, wait,"

His brown eyes met mine again and I kept my hand on his arm.

"I would never want to hurt you," I told him, locking my grey eyes on his, "You know that right?"

"I know you would never mean to." He replied honestly and I felt a pang at his words, his eyes continued to search mine for answers, "Why are you saying this, Rig?"

I moved onto my back to face him better, my hand moving to hold my stomach from under the covers, "I just need know. That you understand that I do love you."

Whatever was going to happen, I couldn't bear the thought of him thinking I never cared about him.

"I don't doubt your love." He told me.

It seemed odd to me that he didn't, "I fear I have given you multiple reasons to."

He gave an odd smile at me, "Love, I'd rather fight with you then be with anybody else."

I couldn't process anything intelligent to respond to such words so I simply let out, "Okay."

He leaned down and kissed me gently on my forehead before moving to my lips. When he left the room I felt more conflicted than ever.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I wonder if we'll be here all night." I commented, tapping my fingers idly on my stomach while leaning against a dirty and moldy smelling wall.

Bill shrugged simply from in the corner beside me, his eyes looking out the window on the wall beside him, "Well, we'll be here until Remus contacts us, that much is sure."

I stopped my tapping and clasped my hands together. We had been in the abandoned building in Knockturn Alley for several hours now, and the reek of the place was starting drift onto my own self.

"I wish he would have taken someone with him," I told Bill, "what if he gets into trouble?"

"Lupin knows what he's doing, I'm sure." The redhead replied firmly.

"Not everyone's perfect." I muttered quietly.

Bill rolled his head to look at me and gave me a pointed look before returning his gaze to the window. I let out a small huff in return and continued to play my fingers across my belly.

The building next to us, the one Bill was keeping an eye on through the window, was the reason we were there. Some information was leaked that a few Death Eaters had been using the old ink and quill store as a base of sorts, and so Kingsley sent Remus, Bill, and myself to check up on it. Remus had gone to another store near the front of the place while I was directed to go with Bill to go to a building next to the rear.

So far, nothing.

Kingsley didn't really expect us to find anything either, as this particular part of Knockturn was close to Diagon and therefore thought deserted of Death Eaters as it was too risky a place to hide.

"We must be able to do something," I said finally, my legs going numb from sitting in the same spot for a long period of time.

Bill sighed in slight annoyance, "We can't, Black. If we move now we could give away our position."

"As if our position is actually doing anything for us," I said back irritably, "We have seven hours of doing nothing to attest to it."

"You truly have no patience whatsoever." He replied simply.

As if I needed anybody to point that out.

"I'm just saying that we need to do something," I told him darkly, "What if something happened to Remus hours ago and we've just been wasting our time while we could have been helping him?"

His eyes went to look up at the ceiling while he let out a breath of frustration, "Fine. I'll go check up on the building and see if anything's happen from inside. Happy?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "We'll go. And yes, very."

He got to his feet and while still grumbling under his breath, offered me a hand up off the floor.

We made it quietly out into the alleyway behind the building and I followed Bill cautiously with my wand raised as we made our way behind a rather large stack of moldy looking crates. I crouched down beside him and found a space between two boxes to look at the building. Bill casted a _muffliato_ charm and then turned back to me, "Alright, I'm going to go check and see if I can see through one of those windows. I need you to stay here and keep me covered."

I simply nodded and he got back up and slowly moved out from behind the crates. I shuffled over to where the edge of the boxes was and waited. I watched as Bill moved towards the building and cautiously tried to see through one of the grimy windows. I looked behind me to check for anything but I couldn't be seen from behind the crates. I turned back to Bill but from his expression I don't think he could see anything. Well what was keeping Remus then?

Suddenly a crack sounded next to me and I spun around only to meet something hard in my face, my vision going spotty as the hard object connected brutally with my nose. I pointed my wand in the direction of the blow but the spots still hadn't disappeared. I couldn't cast a spell before my wand was forced out of my hands and I heard it clatter to the cobblestone below me.

When I could finally see clearly again I was facing the front of the store and something was jabbing into the back of my neck, a wand I guessed, and a hand latched onto my shoulder.

"Drop the wand ginger, or she'll be dropping to the floor." A voice drawled from behind me and I felt blood coming down my face from my nose.

I focused on Bill's outraged face before me and in my dazed state I wondered if he was mad at me or the person holding me. Either way, his wand also clattered to the ground.

We were screwed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

**Cliff hanger, I don't think I've done one of those in a long while… **

**So a little bit of hormonal Rigel, questioning Oliver, and Order drama. **

**I know a lot of you might be frustrated with Rigel's refusal to tell anyone about her being pregnant and fair enough. Some of it is to work with my story plan but it also has to do with who Rigel is. She still has big unresolved problems concerning her own parents and therefore doesn't feel fit to be a parent herself. Her own father left her when she was only six and granted, it wasn't by choice, but he still left. So Rigel doesn't know what Oliver's reaction will be to becoming a father.**

**But don't fear, I have a plan in mind for all of this. **

**Thank you for the reviews from last chapter! I'm glad people are enjoying the story so far! **

**Next chapter preview: Rigel and Maggie get into trouble and two people from the past show up. (Any guesses as to whom?)**

**Thanks for reading as always! **


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